Before you begin:

You may want to collect bundles of twigs or sticks ahead of time so that you have enough sticks for each child to have three or four. Alternatively, if you are in an area with a lot of trees, you could go on a fall nature hike around your school and have students collect small twigs or sticks from the ground.

Directions

Give each student a red, yellow and orange sheet of construction paper.

Instruct students to fold the paper in half widthwise.

Have students trace one of their hands onto each paper. Note: For younger students, you may want to have an adult help with this step. Or pair students with a partner and have them take turns tracing each other’s hands.

Give each student a pair of scissors and have them cut out the handprints. Tell students to keep the paper folded so that they can cut out two handprints of each color at a time. (Younger students may need help cutting out the handprints.)

Have students glue the red, yellow and orange handprints overlapping in the center of the paper so that the different colors create a campfire effect.

Encourage students to use glue to attach 3 to 4 twigs horizontally beneath the campfire handprints to make the log base of the fire.

Next, provide students with a copy of the “Campfire Nights” poem to cut out and glue to the top right-hand corner of the paper.

Print out copies of the writing frames and have students choose one to complete. Note: For younger students, have them dictate their answers for you to write in the frame.

Then, have students glue their writing frames beneath the twigs on their campfire pictures.

Learning Extension:

Lead students in a choral reading of the “Campfire Nights” poem. (For younger students, read through the poem once, then have them repeat after you as you read each line aloud.)

Help students connect the poem to their own experiences. Invite them to tell about a time they went camping. Or have them share with you what the poem reminds them of or what it makes them think about.